Mexico, South Korea, and the best phenomenon in international soccer

Mexico stunk on Wednesday. They got whooped by Sweden, 3-0. But that wasn’t the dramatic part of the day at all. No, the drama for Mexico fans came from watching another game: Germany vs. South Korea.

Once Mexico went down by two goals, their eyes shifted to the other match, where Germany and Korea were scoreless for 90-plus minutes. A 0-0 draw in that game was good enough for Mexico. With one goal for Germany, El Tri would be eliminated from the World Cup despite winning their first two games. With a goal by South Korea, they could breathe.

Here’s what happened in stoppage time:

Mexico fans were forced to ride a two-minute roller coaster of emotions as South Korea scored, had their goal wiped off the board, then granted again.

At Mexico watch parties around the world, attention shifted to the TVs with the Germany game on. Here’s what the reaction looked like when South Korea scored:

As El Tri supporters got the news of Korea’s goal on their phones, the crowd exploded in Yekaterinburg, even though the people cheering were watching their team cap off a terrible performance.

After the game, some Mexico fans found a Korean fan outside the stadium, picked him up, and started chanting “KOREA! KOREA!”

In Mexico City, they’re celebrating wildly with Korean fans despite El Tri’s loss. This is amazing:

Here’s an impromptu parade:

Fans in Mexico City rushed to the South Korean embassy to celebrate:

The Korean consul general to Mexico is partying with fans:

And a party in Denver:

This is always one of the best moments in international soccer: When one team plays terribly, but gets helped out by another.

Whether you’re new to this phenomenon or not, it’s a good time to relive some of the best instances of this in recent history. Perhaps the best one: The Honduran radio call from 2009 when a stoppage time goal by the United States against Costa Rica put Honduras into the 2010 World Cup.

Four years later, the United States ended up in the same position once more. This time, it was Mexico they were saving. In one of the greatest pieces of sports commentary of all time, a Mexican announcer berates El Tri while screaming about how much he loves America.

(No one came to bail out a terrible USMNT when they needed it in 2018. What the heck, guys? Don’t you have any manners? Golden rule.)

You’ll be seeing some Mexican/Korean mash-ups online for a while.